The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for the continuous mechanical mixing of disparate substances, such as oil, water, gas and fine particulate material, in successive steps and ultimately under shearing to produce evenly distributed mixtures of emulsions.
The mixtures produced with the present invention, typically fuel emulsions and colloid fuel in emulsion, have conventionally been produced using emulsification processes requiring an emulsifying agent with attendant chemical reactions and resulting impurities. The present invention, by way of contrast, discloses a process and apparatus which continuously and mechanically produce emulsions and suspensions more simply than, and as effectively as, the prior art while obviating the need for emulsifying agents.
The process and apparatus of the present invention are modifications of and improvements upon those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,871,625 and 3,998,433 issued to one of the co-inventors of the present invention.